The Century of the Self

For the 2009 album by ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, see The Century of Self.

The Century of the Self
Directed by	Adam Curtis
Written by	Adam Curtis
Produced by	Adam Curtis Lucy Kelsall Stephen Lambert (executive producer)
Starring	Sigmund Freud Edward Bernays Werner Erhard Jerry Rubin Tony Blair Bill Clinton Robert Reich Wilhelm Reich Martin S. Bergmann Adam Curtis
Cinematography	David Barker William Sowerby
Distributed by	BBC Four
Release date	2002
Running time	240 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The Century of the Self is an award-winning British television documentary series by Adam Curtis. It focuses on how the work of Sigmund Freud, Anna Freud, and Edward Bernays influenced the way corporations and governments have analyzed,‭ dealt with, and controlled ‬people.

Overview

"This series is about how those in power have used Freud's theories to try and control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy." —Adam Curtis' introduction to the first episode.

Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, changed the perception of the human mind and its workings. His influence on the twentieth century is generally considered profound. The series describes the propaganda that Western governments and corporations have utilized stemming from Freud's theories.

Freud himself and his nephew Edward Bernays, who was the first to use psychological techniques in public relations, are discussed. Freud's daughter Anna Freud, a pioneer of child psychology, is mentioned in the second part, as is one of the main opponents of Freud's theories, Wilhelm Reich, in the third part.

Along these general themes, The Century of the Self asks deeper questions about the roots and methods of modern consumerism, representative democracy, commodification and its implications. It also questions the modern way we see ourselves, the attitudes to fashion and superficiality.

The business and political world uses psychological techniques to read, create and fulfill our desires, to make their products or speeches as pleasing as possible to us. Curtis raises the question of the intentions and roots of this fact. Where once the political process was about engaging people's rational, conscious minds, as well as facilitating their needs as a society, the documentary shows how by employing the tactics of psychoanalysis, politicians appeal to irrational, primitive impulses that have little apparent bearing on issues outside of the narrow self-interest of a consumer population.

Paul Mazur, a Wall Street banker working for Lehman Brothers in the 1930s, is cited as declaring "We must shift America from a needs- to a desires-culture. People must be trained to desire, to want new things, even before the old have been entirely consumed. [...] Man's desires must overshadow his needs".

To many in both politics and business, the triumph of the self is the ultimate expression of democracy, where power has finally moved to the people. Certainly the people may feel they are in charge, but are they really? The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society in Britain and the United States. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests?

According to BBC publicity

It is widely believed that the series was inspired and informed by a book written by the American historian, Stuart Ewen, "PR! A Social History of Spin".

Awards

• Best Documentary Series, Broadcast Awards
• Historical Film Of The Year, Longman/History Today Awards

Nominated for:

• Best Documentary Blubb, Royal Television Society
• Best Documentary, Indie Awards
• Best Documentary Series, Grierson Documentary Awards
• Best Documentary, William Coupan Memorial Award

Episodes

1. Happiness Machines (17 March 2002)
2. The Engineering of Consent (24 March 2002)
3. There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads: He Must Be Destroyed (31 March 2002)
4. Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering (7 April 2002)

In Episode 4 the main subjects are Philip Gould and Matthew Freud, the great grandson of Sigmund, a PR consultant. They were part of the efforts during the nineties to bring the Democrats in the US and New Labour in the United Kingdom back into power. Adam Curtis explores the psychological methods they have now massively introduced into politics. He also argues that the eventual outcome strongly resembles Edward Bernays vision for the "Democracity" during the 1939 New York World's Fair.

Music

• Raymond Scott: Portofino 2 (From Manhattan Research Inc.)
• Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90, beginning of the third movement (poco allegretto)
• Louis Armstrong: What a Wonderful World
• Arvo Pärt: Spiegel im Spiegel, Für Alina
• Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
• Dmitri Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues (Shostakovich), Prelude 1 (C major)
• Aaron Copland: Billy the Kid (ballet)

External links

• The Century of the Self at BBC Online (archive copy)
• The Century of the Self at IMDb

• Episode guide:
  1. Happiness Machines at www.bbc.co.uk (archive copy)
  2. The Engineering of Consent at www.bbc.co.uk (archive copy)
  3. There is a Policeman Inside All Our Head: He Must Be Destroyed at www.bbc.co.uk (archive copy)
  4. Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering at www.bbc.co.uk (archive copy)
• How Freud got under our skin, review by Tim Adams in The Observer, 10 March 2002
• The Century of the Self – BBC Documentary (by Adam Curtis) by Dan Haggard in Reviews In Depth, 25 January 2010